I went on a road trip last night with 4 of my coworkers/friends. Ms. SL, Ms. HL, Ms. LS, and Mr. JW. We drove to WV to see our football team play against M. High School. The boys left earlier in the day and did a college tour at West Virginia University, our head coach's alma mater. They had been talking about this field trip all week and the 5 of us felt it would be a great surprise to show up to support them at their first game of the season.
We left immediately after school, and drove for 4+ hours to get to the game around 8:20pm, partway through the second quarter. As we pulled up we noticed that the stands on the home side were chalk full of fans - shouting, cheering, and having a grand ol' time. As we finagled our way into a faux-parking spot, we grabbed our banners and headed over the ticket booth. As we were walking over, we looked down on the field and saw a player being taken off the field on a stretcher. We began to panic... that was one of our boys. We began asking around for what happened and got a hazy story about a bad tackle, concussion, pinched nerve, and visiting team. The boy raised his hand as he was being taken off the field, so at least we knew he wasn't paralyzed. (We are still not 100% sure what happened...)
We hustled over to the visitors stands - speckled with random people from out of town, rebel MHS students, and some WVU alums - and started shouting our school spirit. Our huddle turned around at the sound of our yells and gasped - they were stunned. Within 5 seconds we were wrapped up in arms of our sweaty players. They couldn't believe we made it. One of my adopted sons, MD, ran over and gave me a huge hug and told me how happy he was that I came. MD wasn't suited up because he currently doesn't have the grades to play, but it meant everything to him that I was there. We got the play by play from the boys about what had happened thus far, and noticed that the score was 3-0 MHS. We gave them mini-pep talks and then settled down in the stands about 30 feet behind our team - hooting and hollering all the while.
We had 20 boys (now 19 due to an injury) who were suited up and playing. Each kid was playing offense, defense, and special teams, which didn't give them a lot of time to rest. On the bright side, each kid got A LOT of playing time. It was a tough game to watch. It wasn't the fact that we had 20 boys that was hard to see, it was that MHS had 42 players suited up. They were cheered on by a 15 girl cheerleading squad, and a 250 piece marching band that included dancers. We figured this school must have at least 2,500 students... we later found out they only had 1,800. That's about 1.000 more than my school.
The boys tried their hardest. After the first half, the coaches decided to play 6-minute quarters. Our boys were exhausted and that was clear by how they were playing. Unfortunately, we came up short (41-0). After the game the boys came over and gave us hugs and thanked us for coming. AR was talking with Ms. HL and then looked over at me. I assumed that he was still not my biggest fan, but then he held out his hand for a high-five/handshake. We both smiled and as I grabbed his hand, "Great job to day, A. You played like a leader. I'm really proud of you." "Thanks, Ms. Walker."
The boys all ran back to the locker room, the coaches came over and expressed their appreciation for us showing up, and then went to get the boys to the hotel they were staying in for the night. The 5 of us looked at each other and knew that the game was totally worth the drive. We packed up our things and began to leave the stadium.
People were stopping us along the way out, asking us if our player was ok. To be honest, we hadn't heard from Coach KC who went with CH to the hospital, but we figured no news was good news and spread the word that CH was going to be fine. We climbed up the stairs towards our car, and when we got to the top we were stopped dead in our tracks by,
"They should have paralyzed that n*****!"
All our eyes darted towards the young man who decided to shout this, who was walking with a few friends, all but one of them were white, the one other was black. Ms. SL said, "Excuse me?!?" to the boy, who continued walking and acted as though he didn't hear her. The black young man walking with the group began saying how disrespectful that was, but I noticed a smile on his face as he said it. We looked around for an adult to tell - wanting that boy to be reprimanded for his horrific attitude and ignorance. Unfortunately, no adult was to be found and we weren't sure what to do. Mr. JW told us to take a breath and let it go, but the rest of us had racing hearts and minds. The boys kept looking back at us as we stared them down, until Ms. HL said, "I can't wait to get back to DC." "Me, either."
In the car ride back we talked about many things that we saw. What it would be like to teach at a school like MHS. That they must have full time staff dedicated to those extracurricular activities. What the supports must look like. How they have had these programs for 80+ years. The list went on.
Despite all of these great things that these kids and teachers had, we still felt like the lucky ones. I have no desire to be anywhere else than my own school. Yes, it is incredibly tiring trying to establish programs. Yes, it is incredibly difficult to do it with with next to no money. Yes, it is frustrating that our kids are significantly behind and you're constantly playing catch up. Yes, it is irritating to know that you have to reinvent the wheel because you can't get your hands on what you know already exists.
On the flip side. Yes! We get to establish programs for our students that will provide them equal opportunities. Yes! We are more creative with our instruction and programs because we do not have the funds to buy everything we need. Yes! Our kids are trying 3x as hard to give themselves the same opportunities as others. Yes! I will reinvent the wheel a million times if it means that it will get better and create equality for my children.
As we drove through the hills of WV, VA, and MD, we thought about how lucky we are to be at our school and not MHS. We have a staff who is dynamic, dedicated, and diverse. Many that are willing to go the extra 215 miles to support our children in whatever way they need. I feel so incredibly fortunate to be on the same team as all of these staff members, and I am incredibly excited for what opportunities we will bring to our kids. We genuinely love coming to school and working with our kids (of course, those kids can sometimes be a total pain in the butt). That is something special, and is exactly what our students deserve. I don't know what the culture is like at MHS, but I'm willing to put money on the fact that it's not nearly as strong as ours.
It's true, we are the lucky ones.
We left immediately after school, and drove for 4+ hours to get to the game around 8:20pm, partway through the second quarter. As we pulled up we noticed that the stands on the home side were chalk full of fans - shouting, cheering, and having a grand ol' time. As we finagled our way into a faux-parking spot, we grabbed our banners and headed over the ticket booth. As we were walking over, we looked down on the field and saw a player being taken off the field on a stretcher. We began to panic... that was one of our boys. We began asking around for what happened and got a hazy story about a bad tackle, concussion, pinched nerve, and visiting team. The boy raised his hand as he was being taken off the field, so at least we knew he wasn't paralyzed. (We are still not 100% sure what happened...)
We hustled over to the visitors stands - speckled with random people from out of town, rebel MHS students, and some WVU alums - and started shouting our school spirit. Our huddle turned around at the sound of our yells and gasped - they were stunned. Within 5 seconds we were wrapped up in arms of our sweaty players. They couldn't believe we made it. One of my adopted sons, MD, ran over and gave me a huge hug and told me how happy he was that I came. MD wasn't suited up because he currently doesn't have the grades to play, but it meant everything to him that I was there. We got the play by play from the boys about what had happened thus far, and noticed that the score was 3-0 MHS. We gave them mini-pep talks and then settled down in the stands about 30 feet behind our team - hooting and hollering all the while.
We had 20 boys (now 19 due to an injury) who were suited up and playing. Each kid was playing offense, defense, and special teams, which didn't give them a lot of time to rest. On the bright side, each kid got A LOT of playing time. It was a tough game to watch. It wasn't the fact that we had 20 boys that was hard to see, it was that MHS had 42 players suited up. They were cheered on by a 15 girl cheerleading squad, and a 250 piece marching band that included dancers. We figured this school must have at least 2,500 students... we later found out they only had 1,800. That's about 1.000 more than my school.
The boys tried their hardest. After the first half, the coaches decided to play 6-minute quarters. Our boys were exhausted and that was clear by how they were playing. Unfortunately, we came up short (41-0). After the game the boys came over and gave us hugs and thanked us for coming. AR was talking with Ms. HL and then looked over at me. I assumed that he was still not my biggest fan, but then he held out his hand for a high-five/handshake. We both smiled and as I grabbed his hand, "Great job to day, A. You played like a leader. I'm really proud of you." "Thanks, Ms. Walker."
The boys all ran back to the locker room, the coaches came over and expressed their appreciation for us showing up, and then went to get the boys to the hotel they were staying in for the night. The 5 of us looked at each other and knew that the game was totally worth the drive. We packed up our things and began to leave the stadium.
People were stopping us along the way out, asking us if our player was ok. To be honest, we hadn't heard from Coach KC who went with CH to the hospital, but we figured no news was good news and spread the word that CH was going to be fine. We climbed up the stairs towards our car, and when we got to the top we were stopped dead in our tracks by,
"They should have paralyzed that n*****!"
All our eyes darted towards the young man who decided to shout this, who was walking with a few friends, all but one of them were white, the one other was black. Ms. SL said, "Excuse me?!?" to the boy, who continued walking and acted as though he didn't hear her. The black young man walking with the group began saying how disrespectful that was, but I noticed a smile on his face as he said it. We looked around for an adult to tell - wanting that boy to be reprimanded for his horrific attitude and ignorance. Unfortunately, no adult was to be found and we weren't sure what to do. Mr. JW told us to take a breath and let it go, but the rest of us had racing hearts and minds. The boys kept looking back at us as we stared them down, until Ms. HL said, "I can't wait to get back to DC." "Me, either."
In the car ride back we talked about many things that we saw. What it would be like to teach at a school like MHS. That they must have full time staff dedicated to those extracurricular activities. What the supports must look like. How they have had these programs for 80+ years. The list went on.
Despite all of these great things that these kids and teachers had, we still felt like the lucky ones. I have no desire to be anywhere else than my own school. Yes, it is incredibly tiring trying to establish programs. Yes, it is incredibly difficult to do it with with next to no money. Yes, it is frustrating that our kids are significantly behind and you're constantly playing catch up. Yes, it is irritating to know that you have to reinvent the wheel because you can't get your hands on what you know already exists.
On the flip side. Yes! We get to establish programs for our students that will provide them equal opportunities. Yes! We are more creative with our instruction and programs because we do not have the funds to buy everything we need. Yes! Our kids are trying 3x as hard to give themselves the same opportunities as others. Yes! I will reinvent the wheel a million times if it means that it will get better and create equality for my children.
As we drove through the hills of WV, VA, and MD, we thought about how lucky we are to be at our school and not MHS. We have a staff who is dynamic, dedicated, and diverse. Many that are willing to go the extra 215 miles to support our children in whatever way they need. I feel so incredibly fortunate to be on the same team as all of these staff members, and I am incredibly excited for what opportunities we will bring to our kids. We genuinely love coming to school and working with our kids (of course, those kids can sometimes be a total pain in the butt). That is something special, and is exactly what our students deserve. I don't know what the culture is like at MHS, but I'm willing to put money on the fact that it's not nearly as strong as ours.
It's true, we are the lucky ones.
you are so amazing... your school, and students are so so lucky!!
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Bobbi